Who's Gonna Drive You Home?
by Ultrawoman
Summary: One-Shot. Alt-Scene for 'Dream On'. Dani hates the idea of back-sliding to Ray and calls for someone to come pick her up from the high school reunion before she makes an even bigger mistake than a kiss. Who could possibly fix her bad night?


**A/N: I wrote this last Summer. I remember because it was the weekend when the weather was stupid hot, and I stayed up late in the dark with the windows open just to get the damn thing written, because all day it'd been too hot to bear the laptop anywhere near my body! lol Anyway, all this is pointless. The point is, I wrote this last year, before I'd even seen all of Season 1 of NR, I think. It may in fact suck, but I figured I may as well post it just in case...**

_**(Disclaimer: All recognisable characters from Necessary Roughness belong to other folks that aren't me.)**_

Who's Gonna Drive You Home?

Dani could hardly believe how stupid she had just been. Kissing Ray, what the hell was she thinking? Talk about swept up in the moment. This was not Prom and she was not seventeen anymore. She was adult now, an adult who was getting a divorce and for very good reasons.

Standing at the bar, Dani ordered herself a drink. She downed it fast the moment it arrived, if only to settle her nerves that were completely rattled. She looked around in all directions for Jeanette and realised she couldn't see her anywhere. Chances were good she got lucky with Gerald just like she planned, but that left Dani with a problem. She was feeling pretty much alone here at the reunion, and Ray wasn't going to stay away from her for long. A little tipsy, a little lost, and somewhat nostalgic, Dani knew she might just be dumb enough to let him talk her around tonight - she had to go.

Rushing outside, the cool night air hit her like a punch in the face, sobering her up enough to let Dani know she needed a ride away from this place and fast. Pulling out her cell, she scrolled through numbers, dismissing each one as useless. Her mother would judge, Matt would be a mistake. There was really nobody she felt good about calling, except one man.

There was an odd smile on Dani's lips as she hit the call button, confident that this was the one person she could rely upon to come pick her up without argument or judging her too harshly.

"Hey, Nico," she greeted him. "I was wondering if you could do me a small favour..."

Dani might have felt bad about calling anyone at such an hour and asking them to drive across town to pick her up, but not Nico. This was the guy that came to her home in the middle of her night and demanded her attention. Sure, that was for work and this was distinctly social, but Dani couldn't care about that right now. She needed help, Nico was the Hawks' fixer, and everyone kept telling her she was part of that team in some way. It made sense, especially when she was a little worse for wear from the cocktails, and completely overwrought by what had happened with Ray.

To be fair to Nico, he didn't argue. Just as soon as she said she needed him, he was on his way. Dani wasn't surprised by his attitude, she knew he wasn't the kind of guy to let a person down, to let _her_ down. It just wouldn't happen. That was strange in itself. After all, they hadn't known each other that long, and Nico was certainly the most mysterious man she ever met. Still, Dani had complete faith in him to do whatever needed doing, to do the right thing, to be there when she called, and here he was.

"Dr Santino," he greeted her with a smile through the wound-down window. "Not having the best night I take it?"

"Oh, you could say that," she agreed, running around to the passenger side door and sliding in beside him. "Thank you for coming, Nico."

"Not a problem," he assured her, pulling away from the kerb.

They didn't talk until they were almost back to Dani's house. It was fine, she was happy enough just to watch the world flash by the window, listen to the soft music on the radio, and kind of wish this night never happened. Nico wasn't much of a talker anyway and right in this moment Dani could use a little quiet time herself. It bothered her though, in the oddest way. Surely any person who was called out in the middle of the night to pick somebody up would want an explanation. It was weird to her that he wouldn't ask for one, and her usual out-spoken nature coupled with a few drinks led her to say so.

"Aren't you gonna ask me why I called you?" she asked him out-right.

Nico never even glanced at her, never flinched at all.

"Why would I?" he shrugged his broad shoulders. "I thought the answer was obvious enough. You needed a ride, so you called, and I came to pick you up," he summed up easily. "Am I missing some big mystery?"

He looked at her then for all of a second, before bringing his eyes back to the road. There was a hint of a smirk on his lips that was as sexy as it was annoying, and Dani was startled to realise she'd had such a thought about Nico of all people. It wasn't as if she were ignorant to the fact he was both male and attractive, she would have to be blind not to see. Still, the fact a word like 'sexy' tumbled into her mind unbidden shook her some, especially after the way this night had already gone so far.

"God, I'm useless with men!" she practically yelled in frustration, eyes closed, head back and feet stomping in the footwell. "Seriously, you wanna know why I called you tonight?" she asked rhetorically since she didn't wait for a response before she went on. "I kissed Ray. My ex-husband and I fell into his arms like the giddy doe-eyed teenager I used to be!"

Dani cursed herself for being so dumb, and Nico just let her vent. He could tell from the way she wobbled a little getting into the car that she'd had a couple of drinks. He also figured something had gone pretty badly wrong at her reunion for her to be calling him to pick her up. Now he understood a little better what exactly her problem was - sliding back to the ex.

"Dani," he said gently as he pulled up outside her home. "C'mon, you're not the first person to back-slide like that," he assured her as she looked his way. "It happens."

"But it _can't_ happen," she told him definitely, shaking her head that was starting to ache already. "I mean, what did I think I was doing?" she asked, another question she didn't really want him to answer, Nico was sure. "A one-night stand with Matt, sliding back to Ray. I'm an idiot," she sighed, covering her face with her hands. "And I'm pretty sure there are no decent guys left in the world."

Nico opened his mouth to answer that comment but then changed his mind. It took all of three seconds for her to peek out between her fingers, looking somewhat guilty about the words she had just said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Nico," she apologised immediately, dropping her hands into her lap. "Present company excepted, obviously. I mean, you, you're a good guy. I never meant to imply..."

"It's fine," he promised her, not wanting her to feel any worse than she clearly already did. "Honestly, Dani, in my line of work, working with the team like I do, I'm not easily offended," he assured her with a smile.

She nodded that she understood and was glad to realise she hadn't made a mess of anything else tonight. Still, she couldn't really feel happy, and that was as obvious to Nico as to anybody. He was about to ask her about it, since she seemed in no hurry to get out of the car at all, but then she spoke up anyway.

"I don't wanna go in there," she admitted, looking towards the house. "I shouldn't be afraid of my own home, and usually I'm not, it's just..." she sighed heavily before she went on. "I know that all I'll be able to think about is High School and Ray and how stupid I've been tonight!"

"C'mon," Nico tried to calm her down, his hand on hers more an absent reaction than an intention. "You're a lot of things, Dr Santino, but stupid is not one of them," he said definitely.

Dani leaned back on the head-rest and smiled across at him.

"Thank you, Nico," she said softly, turning her hand over to grip his own. "For picking me up, for being so sweet. I really appreciate it, even if I don't deserve it," she sighed. "You're Mr Fix It, right? If you ever figure out how to fix me, let me know, okay?" she laughed humourlessly as she sat herself up and moved to get out of the car at last.

"Hey," Nico called her back, pulling on the hand he still held.

"Oh," Dani wasn't quite ready for the momentum that brought her back into the seat with a bump, rather closer to the fixer than she had been before.

She laughed at how dumb she felt, but then turned serious when she looked up and met Nico's eyes.

"Dani, you don't need any fixing," he promised her, pushing her hair back behind her ear. "You're a beautiful, intelligent, wonderful woman, and any decent man would feel so priveleged to have you in their life."

It took a few seconds for Dani to realise she wasn't breathing anymore and she forced herself to take in oxygen before she passed out. The intensity of Nico's eyes stuck her to the spot and she swallowed hard when she got the idea in her head that he was going to kiss her. She got the bigger surprise when he slid his hand behind her neck, pulling her close but putting his lips to her forehead.

"Goodnight, Dr Santino," he smiled as he let her go then. "Sweet dreams."

Dani was smiling widely as she got out of the car with success this time, closing the door and waving goodbye as Nico drove away into the night.

"Sweet dreams?" she echoed to herself, as her hand went absently to the spot where he had kissed her goodnight. "They will be now," she sighed, wandering into the house, wondering why she suddenly felt like she just got back from Prom, accompanied by the hottest guy in school.

The End


End file.
